Carter has hired all the right players.
Two years ago, Monkey Bar was reopened by Graydon Carter, and no one could get in. Now, according to the Times, he wants everyone to try again. We already knew he hired Belinda Chang as wine director and GM, but toss in the secret weapon known as Ken Friedman, Craft’s Damon Wise in the kitchen, Michael’s Michael Bailey as maître d’hôtel, and Monkey Bar might just make it. But don’t expect a Danny Meyer–like warmth. Chang says, “I don’t know that we’ll hug you now. But we might give you a double kiss.” And do expect to go broke: “People walk into a bar with money in their hands, dying for you to take it, and the job is to really give them something for it,” says Friedman, bluntly. [NYT]
